Businesses optimistic about economic recovery

Businesses are increasingly confident that the EU has recovered from the economic crisis, according to data published today by the European Commission.

The Commission’s economic sentiment indicator, which measures confidence within the EU’s industrial, services, retail, construction and financial services sectors, as well as consumer confidence, was at 102.2 in July, up 1.9 points from June.

It is up 2.2 points since May, the first month with comparable data. The biggest increase in confidence in July was recorded in Germany (4.0). The biggest drop in confidence was recorded in Spain (-2.2).

The Commission reported that its business climate indicator (BCI), which is based on how managers in the eurozone’s industrial sector think their order books and production will develop in the coming months, picked up markedly in July.

The BCI was at 0.66 in July, compared with 0.40 in June and 0.38 in May, the first month with comparable data. The Commission said that managers were “upbeat about their order books and [the] production trend observed in recent months”.

“The improvement in the indicator suggests that economic activity in industry will continue to recover in the coming months,” the Commission said.